Baffle and stopper for waste disposal unit



July 28, 1959 R. w. HYDE 2,896,366

BAFFLE AND STOPPER FOR WASTE DISPOSAL UNIT Filed May 24, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 zz u, I 4

Arrow/E75.

uly 2 1 R. w. HYDE 2,896,866

BAFFLE AND STOPPER FOR WASTE DISPOSAL UNIT Filed May 24. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

wawawmw I ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent BAFFLE AND STOPPER FOR WASTE DISPOSAL UNIT Robert W. Hyde, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Radiator & Standard Sanitary Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Application May 24, 1954, Serial No. 431,895

Claims. (Cl. 241-1005) This invention relates to garbage disposers and is directed in particular to a baffle and stopper device for the drain opening in a kitchen sink having a garbage disposer associated therewith.

The primary function of such a bafile is to prevent water and bits of food waste from splashing or being thrown out of a garbage disposer when it is in operation; whereas the purpose of the stopper is to permit a stand of Water to be held in the sink when the disposer unit is not being used.

I am aware that battle devices have been used in conjunction with garbage disposers in the past. The present combination does, however, have a number of novel feaures and advantages over such devices provided heretoore.

The baflle and stopper device of the present invention is seated at the top of the drain sleeve which opens into the garbage disposer. Thus placed, the baflle is adapted to be readily removed for replacement, or to provide entry for a hand into the comminuting chamber of the unit in order to remove objects accidentally dropped into the disposer or to clear the comminuting elements of the disposer in the event of a jam.

Over and above the removability of the baflle, I have discovered that a baflie of the present type, placed in the top of a drain sleeve serves as a highly efficient noise suppresser during the operation of the disposer. The battle provided functions to maintain a thin, continuous screen of water over the opening into the disposer when water is being run into it from a sink during use. The water screen is not a stand of water, but rather it is in the nature of a rapidly flowing film. I have found that such a screen is effective to absorb substantially all of the noise resulting from the grinding of food waste. The baflle in no way interferes with the flow of water into the disposer and even automatically adapts itself to changes in the flow so that at all times the flow through the baffle is restricted only to the extent of maintaining the thin, closed screen for noise suppression.

It will 'be seen, therefore, that the two primary objectives of the invention are to provide a baffle which is readily removable and one which is effective to maintain a silencing screen of water over the opening into the unit.

In addition, it is an objective of the invention to provide a baffle and stopper unit of the type set forth which is of simplified construction and which can be sold at an exceedingly low price.

Other objectives and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the drawings in which:

Figure 1 isa fragmentary cross sectional view taken through the upper portion of a garbage disposer unit showing a baifle incorporating the principles of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a top plan view showing a stopper which is adapted to be used in conjunction with the baffle unit.

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Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic cross sectional view similar to Figure 4 with the stopper removed and with a flow of water passing through the baffle.

In general the elements of the combination of the present invention consist of a support and seating ring 10, a baflle 11 and a stopper 12, the stopper itself being of the type disclosed in Patent No. 2,709,046. In Figures 1 and 2 the ring and baffle only are shown in conjunction with a garbage disposer which is generally designated 13. The baflle may be made of Buna-N rubber, vinyl, neoprene or other readily flexible and resilient material having the characteristics which are set forth below. The preferred material for the stopper is vinyl although it may be made of other resilient or semi-resilient material having characteristics which are also described below in detail. The ring 10 preferably is made of metal such as steel or brass which is chromium plated.

For the details of construction of the disposer shown, attention is directed to copending patent application Serial No. 392,873, filed November 18, 1953. This disposer has a mounting ring assembly 14 at the upper end thereof which is designed to be threaded onto a sink drain sleeve 15. In these two figures the sink itself is not shown.

The support and seating ring 10 of the combination, in the upper portion thereof, has an outwardly curved, flaring flange 16 which is designed to rest upon the rim portion of the drain sleeve 15 in the area thereof which immediately surrounds the drain opening through the sleeve. The lower portion of ring 10 consists of an annular seat 17 which is channel-shaped in cross section to provide at the inner side of the ring a shoulder 18 where the seat joins outwardly flaring flange 16. The channelshaped seat portion of the ring serves in part to seat stopper 12 at the inside thereof and in addition serves as a means of attaching and supporting baflie 11 at the outside thereof.

The baffle consists in general of a plurality of triangularly shaped fingers each of which is designated 19 and an upstanding flange 20. The outer diameter of flange 20 is just slightly over-sized with respect to the inner diameter of the opening in the drain sleeve'15. The inner face of upstanding flange 20 has a pair of beads 21 and 22. These two beads extend circumferentially around the inner face of upstanding flange 20 in vertically spaced relationship such that they engage into the channel which extends around the outside of the seat portion 17 of ring 10, see Figure 4. The slightly larger outer diameter of the upstanding flange with respect to the inner diameter of the drain sleeve causes the beads 21 and 22 to be compressed when the ring, with the baflle thereon, is placed in the drain sleeve opening, Preferably the fit is a substantially tight one for reasons explained below.

Stopper 12 is designed to be seated inside of ring 10 and includes a marginal flange 23 which overlaps slightly the outer periphery of the upper flange 16 of the ring. It is preferred that the outer marginal edge of flange 23 is tapered or feathered as indicated at 24 in Figures 3 and 4. It will be appreciated that the weight of a stand of water in the sink above stopper 12 will force flange 23 into tight sealing relationship with ring 10. The underside of the stopper, just inwardly of flange 23 may be configurated to conform generally to the curvature of the outwardly flared flange of ring 10. This part of the stopper may seat upon the shoulder 18 of the ring. The central portion of the stopper is substantially dish-shaped with a central diametrically disposed web 25 being provided to serve as a handle. The underside of the stopper may conform generally to the curvature of the central portion of the batfle as shown in Figure 4.

The stopper may be made of metal if desired. Whether it is made of metal or of resilient material, it will be seen that ring serves to seat the stopper and to both seat and support-the baffle. It is preferred that a tighter fit be provided between the ring (through the upstanding flange 20 of the bafile) and the sink sleeve than is provided between the stopper and the ring, so that the stopper may be removed without pulling, the baffle from the drain sleeve opening. The seal. is provided between the stopper and the ring is primarily the result of the downward force of the water standing above it, which force presses the stopper flange 23 onto the upper edge of the flared portion of the ring and in addition presses the stopper onto shoulder 18; Both fits, therefore, serve to establish a seal. Where a metal stopper is utilized either the out turned flange 23 or the shoulder 18 may be machined if desired to receive a complimentary machined taper or tapers on the stopper. It is found that a wedge fit of the type provided at shoulder 18, whether the stopper be made of metal or a plastic such as vinyl, provides an exceptionally tight seal-one which is much more efiicient than the stoppers provided heretofore for use in connection withgarbage disposer units. Past stoppers would not hold a stand of water for more than an hour. The present one is found to maintain water, without leakage, indefinitely. 'This ability of the stopper to hold water efliciently is advantageous because it makes it possible to soak things over night in the sink.

Referring now to Figure 2 of the drawings, it will be seen that the fingers 19 in the central portion of the baflle are defined by a plurality of radially extending slits, ten being provided in the instance shown.v The slits terminate at their outer ends at holes 26 and the inner ends of the fingers 19 terminate at a central opening 27 which may be substantially the same size as or smaller than the holes 26.

central opening and the augularity of the fingers. The baffle, thus, in no way impedes the flow of water from the sink into the disposer, but at all times maintains a sound deadening water screen. It is surprising to find that an exceedingly thin filnrofrapidly flowing water is effective to substantially completely block all grinding noise. The ability of the baffle to maintain a'constant thin film of water, which in the preferred embodiment size and the water turned on to provide a large unob- The nature or characteristics of the material of which the bathe is made is important to its successful operation as a means of maintaining a noise suppressing film of water over a disposer when food waste is being ground up. In the preferred embodiment, the battle is made of Buna-N rubber which is sufficiently thin and flexible so as to bow downwardly under the weight of water flowing over the fingers. Furthermore, it will be noted from Figures 4 and 5 that the bafile fingers are thicker at their roots adjacent to the upstanding flange 20 than they are at their inner ends. In the preferred embodiment, with the baffle made of Buna-N rubber, the root of each baflie finger may be approximately .060 of an inch thick and the tip thereof approximately .040 of an inch thick. The baffle fingers collectively also are in the form of a shallow cone, each slanting downwardly approximately 20 toward the opening 27 at their inner ends.

The readily flexible nature of the fingers 19, in conjunction with the position of the baffle at the upper end of the drain sleeve, serves an exceedingly important function. I have discovered that a bathe of this type and construction which is placed in this location maintains a thin film of water over the drain opening at all times regardless of the volume of the flow of water into the sink. Water, in running onto the batfle from the sink, flows over the edge of ring 10 and out onto the bafile fingers. When a small flow is used, the' water covers the fingers and flows through the holes 26 and central opening 27. The baffle fingers and the film of water on top of them completely closes the opening into the disposer. Now if the flow of water is increased, its weight on the fingers causes them to bend or bow downwardly as shown in Figure 5 by the dot-dash lines 28--28. This .has the effect of enlarging the center opening and also of increasing the angle of flow of the water so that a thin film or screen only still is maintained above the baflle fingers. Further increase in the flow increases the structed flow toward the drain opening, which flow washes all of the food waste from the sink into the disposer. The unobstructed flow therefore makes the disposer unit self-feeding.

It will be noted that the stopper of the combination is generally rectangular as seen from above so that its edges may be used as food scrapers. The four sides are slightly curved, but they may be made straight if desired, the sides in the instance shown being curved for the sake of appearance. The slight curve does not destroy the utility of the stopper as a scraper for cleaning food waste from dishes or pans or destroy its utility as a means of scraping food waste from the sink into the disposer when the self-feeding feature is not relied upon to'do this job. Although the baflie shown is cone-shaped, it will be appreciated that the fingers may be disposed horizontally without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having described my invention, I claim: 1 I

1. In a baflle device adapted to be seated within a cylindrical drain sleeve of a sink having a waste disposer associated therewith, said batfle device including means in the outer annular area thereof to fasten it with respect to said drain sleeve, the improvement comprising a plurality of thin, wedge-shaped fingers extending inwardly from said outer annular area and collectively forming a shallow, inverted cone normally substantially closing said drain sleeve, said fingers tapering from their outer ends toward their inner ends whereby they are thinner at their inner ends than at their outer. ends, and said fingers being made of rubber-like material which is flexible tothe ex-. tent that the fingers bend downwardly to open the cone progressively from the center thereof outwardly under the weight of water flowing from the sink onto them to maintain a flow of water through the cone in the' form of a continuously moving screen substantially no deeper than one-eighth of an inch, the maintenance of the continuously moving screen of water dampening grinding noises arising from the operation of the disposer and preventing water from backing up into the, sink from the drain sleeve, whereby the flow of water'from the sink) the drain sleeve is not interrupted and, whereby waste deposited in the sink is washed to the drain sleeve and thence through the cone. l g y 2. A baflie and stopperdevice for installation in the drain sleeve of a sink having a garbage disposer associated therewith comprising in combination a metal seating and supporting ring, said ring having an outwardly flaring upper flange to rest upon the upper rim of said drain sleeve in the area thereof immediately surrounding the opening therethrough, said ring having a lower'portion which is channel-shaped in cross section and which has a smaller internal diameter than the upper portion of the ring to provide an annular shoulder at the inside of the ring at the place where the upper flange joins the lower portion of the ring and to provide a groove extending circumferentially around the outside of said ring, a bathe member formed of thin, readily flexible, resilient material, said bafile member having an upstanding annular flange engaging and extending circumferentially' around the lower portion of said ring, a pair of beads extending circumferentially around the inner face of said flange in parallel relationship with respect to one another,

said beads being spaced apart vertically and being seated within said groove in sealing relationship therewith, the outside diameter of said upstanding flange being slightly over-sized with respect to the inside diameter of said drain sleeve so as to require said ring to be seated therein in a force fit which securely locks said beads in said groove, a plurality of baffle fingers extending radially inwardly from the lower edge of said upstanding flange, and a stopper member configurated to seat within said ring against said shoulder, said stopper member, having a marginal flange to rest upon the upper edge of said outwardly flared flange of the ring when seated as aforesaid.

3. A baifle and stopper device comprising in combination a metal seating and supporting ring, said ring having an outwardly flaring upper flange, said ring having a lower portion which is channel-shaped in cross section and which has a smaller internal diameter than the upper portion of the ring to provide an annular shoulder at the inside of the ring at the place where the upper flange joins the lower portion of the ring and to provide a groove extending circumferentially around the outside of said ring, a baffle member, said baflle member having an upstanding annular flange engaging and extending circumferentially around the lower portion of said ring, a pair of beads extending circumferentially around the inner face of said annular flange in parallel relationship with respect to one another, said beads being spaced apart vertically and seated against the ring within said groove, a plurality of baffle fingers extending radially inwardly from the lower edge of said upstanding flange, and a stopper configurated to seat within said ring against said shoulder, said stopper having a marginal flange adapted to overhang and seat upon the upper edge of said outwardly flared flange of the ring when seated as aforew said. i

4. The combination of a sink drain sleeve of the type utilized in a sink having a garbage disposer associated therewith and a baflle and stopper device seated in the up per end of said drain sleeve, said baflile and stopper de-.

vice comprising a metal ring having an outwardly flaring flange in the upper end thereof, said flange being seated upon the upper rim of said drain sleeve in the area thereof immediately surrounding the opening therethrough, a baffle member, said baflle member having an annular upstanding flange, means securing said upstanding flange to the outside of said ring with the upstanding flange extending circumferentially therearound, a plurality of baifle fingers extending radially inwardly from the lower edge of said upstanding flange, said baifle fingers being defined by a plurality of slits radiating from a substantially small opening, a stopper, said stopper configurated to seat within said ring above said baflle member, a marginal flange on said stopper, said marginal flange overhanging and resting upon the outwardly flared flange of the ring when said stop-per is seated as aforesaid.

5. The combination of a drain sleeve adapted to be installed in a sink having a garbage disposer associated therewith, and a baflle device for the opening of said drain sleeve, said baflle device comprising a metal ring having an upper outwardly flaring flange seated upon the rim at the top of said drain sleeve in the area thereof surrounding said opening, the portion of said ring immediately below said flange being channel-shaped in cross section so as to provide a groove extending circumferentially around the outside of said ring, a baffle member, said baflle member having an upstanding peripheral flange, at least one bead extending circumferentially around the inner face of said upstanding flange, said bead engaged in the groove of the ring to fasten the baflle thereto and a plurality of wedge-shaped fingers extending inwardly from the lower edge of said upstanding flange beneath the lower rim of said ring, said fingers collectively forming a shallow cone normally substantially closing said drain opening, and said fingers being made of thin readily flexible rubber-like material characterized by its ability to bend downwardly readily when a flow of water runs onto the baflle to open the baflle to the extent of maintaining only a thin screen of water over the baffle, whereby waste may pass through the baflie without hinderance thereby.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,975,865 Robinovich Oct. 9, 1934 2,169,896 Gazey Aug. 15, 1939 2,185,037 Powers Dec. 26, 1939 2,573,213 Miller Oct. 30, 1951 

